By Valentina Daccache, Julianna del Rey, and Sylvanna Vitali
Table of Contents
The Way We Lived………………………….…...1 Film and Theater………………………………...2 Advertisement……………………………………3 Education………………………………………...4 Fashion…………………………………………...5 Advertisement……………………………………6 Food………………………………………………7 Sports……………………………………………..8 Advertisement……………………………………9 Music…………………………………………….10 Government/Politics……………………………11 Advertisement…………………………………..12 Law and Justice…………………………….…..13
Table of Contents Continued
Foreign Affairs…………………………………14 Foreign Affairs…………………………………15 Domestic Affairs……………………………….16 Domestic Affairs……………………………….17 Advertisement………………………………….17 Book Review…………………………………...18 Celebrity Gossip……………………………….19 Culture…………………………………………..20 Advertisement………………………………….21 Puzzle…………………………………………...22 Sources…...…………………………………….23
The Way We Lived The 1970s was a revolutionary time period for equality, especially for women. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 made it illegal for employers to refuse credit solely based on race or sex. Also, work discrimination was made illegal, so women were able to work in whatever profession they wanted too. The feminist fashion movement of the 70s promoted clothes that both men and women were “allowed� to wear. Less women wore skirts and dress, and more men and women wore bell bottoms and platform shoes.
On average, families in the 1970s were made up of about four to five nuclear family members. Families would usually watch television together and eat dinner together. Television both brought together and broke apart families because families had several televisions in different rooms, so some families did not watch television together. Though, divorce rates were high, there was a 50% chance of divorce. The high divorce rate was thought to be caused by the feminist movement because more women were unwilling to stay at home, take care of the children, cook, clean, etc. The 1970s was definitely a time of revolution regarding equality in fashion and in the workplace.
Film and Theatre during the 70’s The 1970’s was a time in which movies changed and became more realistic than before, of course the technology was not as advanced as today, although it was a great improvement than before. As technology advanced, more and more people began to use cable TV, which would reduce the number of people watching advertisements, independent stations, and as well as movie theaters. HBO, Home Box Office was one of the early cable networks used. It is one of the reasons why the cable television was growing. Many of the blockbuster movies made in 1970’s are still remembered and watched today such as Jaws (1975), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), and Star Wars (1977).
Later on more TV networks were created and competing with each other such as Viacom's Showtime (1976 and with satellite in 1978), Warner Amex’s The Movie Channel (1979), and other during the early 80’s. The People Magazine published weekly articles, first published March 1974, which published things about celebrity roles and the film production for the industry.
Education In the 1970’s, education and schooling was not nearly as important as it is now. Though segregation in schools had been declared unconstitutional in the case of Brown vs. Education, some schools and busing was still segregated by 1970. On top of that, most neighborhoods were divided by race, so public schools were not very diverse. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act was passed by congress in 1975, so a lot of disabled children were able to go to school and have more opportunities. The case of Lau vs. Nicolas, in which Chinese-American students complained that they could not understand as well as other students, encouraged and assisted schools into becoming bilingual.
Most female students in the 1970’s became teachers while male students took on office jobs, rather than industrial jobs. Though most students wanted to go to college, in was very unaffordable. But, there were also many students that believed school was a waste of time. Also, schools suffered financially and a lot of schools, especially in neighborhoods of minorities, were desensitized and had outdated teaching equipment. Though the education system during the 70’s was poor, new acts and other agreements were passed that opened up education to the disabled, minorities, etc.
1970’s Fashion During the 1970’s, it was the first time women were seen walking in the streets with pants. The 1970’s fashion was hippie and mod (modern) fashion mixed and made better. In the early 1970’s, people usually wore bright colors. Polyester was usually the material they chose their clothes to be made out of. Some of the clothes they wore were tight fitting pants and platform shoes. By 1973, most women wore high cut boots and low cut pants. They also wore skirts, dresses and blouses.
By the late 1970’s, pant suits, leisure suits, track suits, tunics, culottes, and robes was what people were using at this time. Mostly all women had cowl neck sweaters and men had v-neck velour shirts. By 1979, people wore mostly black, white, grays, and other non-colorful colors.
Typical 1970’s Food Many different types of food were created during the 1970’s. A typical food a child would eat is the spaghetti with bolognese sauce. Fondue was also a regular food people in the 70’s used to eat. The black forest cake was typically served in a dinner party. Many buffets had Quiche and salad bars.
The Happy meal was also a common type of food people ate at this time. It was created in 1979 and became a success for McDonald's.
In 1972 Snapple was founded and was one of the first ice tea and juice brand to compete against soda drinks and said they had healthy drinks.
Sports In the 1970s Monday night football was a huge part of the average American family’s weekly routine. Between 1973 and 1980, the Pittsburgh Steelers won four Super Bowl titles, and in total, ten players, during the 1970’s, are featured in the Sports Hall of Fame. Football was not the only sport Americans adored, baseball, the original American sport, was extremely popular as well. The Pirates, Yankees, and Reds won the World Series twice during the 70’s, while the Oakland A’s won three. Until 1974, Babe Ruth had the record for the longest home run, the record was broken by Hank Aaron from the Milwaukee Braves. In the National Basketball Association, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was arguably the greatest player during the 1970s. He played 20 seasons in the NBA and played for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. The 1970s is known for being the only decade without a dominant NBA team. Throughout the decade, eight different teams won the championships and there were no back-to-back winners. The only two teams that won the championships twice, were the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics The Washington Bullets won one title, but made it to the finals four times. The New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers each made it to the finals three times.
Music By the 1970s, the folk and harmony groups that had been widely popular throughout the 1960s lost their following, though some artists who had enjoyed success in this genre like Cat Stevens, Paul Simon, and Donovan continued their careers with modernized styles. Young people became invested in new kinds of music that were influenced by an increasingly flamboyant culture that emerged as a result of the cultural suppression of the 50s that had moved into the 60s. Many longed to enjoy a liberated, open way of being, and so disco was created. Often overtly sexual, disco celebrated dance and freedom of expression that moved into all facets of life. Artists like Diana Ross, Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, and the Bee Gees were among the most popular of the disco era.
The evolution of rock continued as well as the soft rock era of the ‘60s, with its instrumental emphasis and reflection of psychedelic culture, came to a close. Hard rock, a genre that rejected the folk origins that were evident in ‘60s rock with fast beats and demanding vocal work, was popularized. Bands like Queen, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, and Journey encompassed this, though most of these bands produced other styles of music, marking an important versatility in the artists of the day.
Government/ Politics During the 70’s Many economical changes occurred during the 70’s. In June 17, 1972, the watergate scandal had occurred involving Richard Nixon, the president at the time. He resigned before he was impeached and he was pardoned of his crime by Ford. After Nixon resigned, Ford became the new president (1974). During this time there was also inflation going on. Many people went on strikes and protested. Although the Watergate Scandal, Richard Nixon did some good to the USA during this time. He pulled out of the Vietnamese War and managed to get a better relationship between the USA and China and Russia.
Law and Justice Much like the 1960s, the ‘70s saw landmark laws passed as a result of growing minority resistance. The defeat of some proposed laws marked progress as much as the creation of them. Campaigns such as California’s Proposition 6 or Florida’s Save Our Children were in large part a reaction to the progress marginalized groups had made for their legal rights as well as their cultural ones. Though many were defeated, some succeeded and proved the need for secure protections for minority groups. Legally, the ‘70s could be seen as a constant battle between those who wanted equal protection under the law and those who not only wanted to deny it to them, but to legalize their persecution in man aspects of life. These included public, professional settings or deeply personal ones.
Laws like the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Equal Rights Amendment, and the Human Rights Ordinance of Miami-Dade County marked significant success in drawing attention to discrimination in American laws, though some were eventually repealed.
Foreign Affairs The 1970s was a time of war with a foreign country, so foreign policies were very important. Richard Nixon, the first president of the 1970s, opened up contact, or trade and dialogue, with China. China was communist, so it seemed like a very strange decision made by Nixon. The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, or SALT, limited the amount and type of nuclear weapons that could be created between the Soviet Union and the U.S. Nixon also pursued the policy of dĂŠtente or the policy of easing Cold War tensions. Nixon tried to fix inflation with a plan as well, but the plan did not work. After Nixon resigned the vice president, Gerald Ford, took office. Ford helped about fifty thousand people in South Vietnam by airlifting them when the Communists seized Saigon. In Cambodia, the U.S. marines freed the crew of the Mayaguez.
Ford also followed Nixon’s policy of easing Cold War tensions. In 1977, James, or Jimmy, Carter took office. Carter believed that past U.S. presidents had overlooked basic human rights with their foreign policies. He refused to give political and military support to Somoza, the cruel president of Nicaragua at the time. Ford created peace between Israel and Egypt with the Camp David Peace Accords, he signed a treaty to give Panama control of the Panama Canal, and he signed SALT II, or Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II. SALT II had similar terms and agreements to those of the original SALT signed by Nixon. The foreign policies of the 1970s were overall deemed successful, mostly because the U.S. finally withdrew American troops from Vietnam.
Domestic Affairs The decade of the ‘70s began with the election of Richard Nixon to the office of President of the United States. The American people were mostly concerned with Nixon’s actions regarding the Vietnam War, as they were with most politicians of the time. As an attempt to quell American displeasure with the war, Nixon passed a series of laws concerning nature preservation. These included the Clean Air Act of 1970, the Clean Water Act of 1972, and the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Inflation was another major concern for Nixon at the time, which he responded to with the Economic Stabilization Act (1970).
Domestic Affairs The EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1970, possibly as an attempt to reassure the American people that despite the devastation of the landscape perpetrated by the U.S. government abroad, a conscious effort would be made to protect American terrain. These actions regarding nature were especially important in the face of rising pollution and harmful chemical production. Ultimately, the domestic affairs of the ‘70s were a struggle to steady economic and cultural turmoil that ensued as a reaction to the Vietnam war and foreign relations.
Book Review: The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss, is a children’s book about a forest spirit whose sworn duty is to protect and speak for the trees. When a human comes to his forest, the Lorax welcomes him and tells him of the perfect balance that exists there. The fruits of the land, he explains, are plentiful and so the creatures of the forest can live well so long as they respect and preserve nature. The human realizes that the fuzz that grows on these trees is versatile and he could make a fortune by mass producing it as a product people could use for nearly anything. Despite the efforts of the Lorax, all the trees of the forest are cut down and the ecosystem collapses.
The human becomes very wealthy, though it has resulted in the complete destruction of the source of his wealth. Though by design the book is intended for children, it describes a very adult concern. Dr. Seuss is attempting to warn people of all ages of the repercussions of mistreating the environment. Published in 1971, this was clearly a reflection of the abuse of natural resources Seuss saw.
1970’s Celebrity Gossip
Richard Nixon was found of being apart of the Watergate Scandal (1972-1974). He managed to resign before he was impeached and Ford became president. Many people lost trust in the government once more after this occurrence. They went on strikes and many protests. Richard Nixon left America on inflation and Ford had to take over. Rona Barrett was a columnist that wrote about many different types of gossip stories. She was known for always knowing all the celebrity gossips and going to all major parties in Hollywood. She was featured in Good Morning America, which helped them beat their competitors, and hosted many other different sit-down interview with many different celebrities.
Culture The ‘70s marked an emphasis on liberation. Though much of the ‘60s was a struggle for liberated thought and action within specific communities, the ‘70s saw a growing movement for representation in mainstream culture and the reflection of minority populations in American government. As minorities were elected to public office, revered as great leaders of the time, and changed the political climate, the cultural standards for “decency”, and therefore suppression, that had stood for so long were shattered. The societal norms of the ‘50s onward made visibility nearly impossible for many groups of people, regardless of the significant portion of the population they may have occupied.
Most notably, Gay Liberation reached its height during the 1970s. As one of the most important civil rights movements of its history, it shaped the United States culturally during the ‘70s and throughout the nation’s future. Serving as an awakening for many young people, the movement normalized lives outside of conventional career paths for following generations and legitimized political advocacy. The de-stigmatization of sexuality for all would also create a safer environment for people of every persuasion, one the likes of which America had never before seen.
1970s Crossword Puzzle
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